Tag Archives: pullip

I exaggerate when I say “protips.” I hope I haven’t raised any expectations too high >_<.
I’ve said many times before that I really enjoy crocheting for my dolls, particularly hats! They make for quick projects, and unless I am trying out a new pattern, I can make the doll hat by memory. There are many resources for crochet patterns for dolls, but even so, sometimes it’s hard to find a pattern for exactly what you are looking for in a hat. Although there are tons of hat styles for people (newsboy, baseball cap, bucket hat, beanie, tam, beret, skull cap, etc), not all of these have been translated to pattern or scaled down to fit Blythe dolls. I’m not an expert at crocheting, or pattern adjusting, but I do have a few tips that I think might be helpful for fellow blythe-loving crocheters. Most of my tips will have to do with playing around with gauge.

Gauge is usually defined in the pattern by a ratio of stitches and rows to a given measurement such as 16 stitches and 14 rows in single crochet = 4″. You should always work a swatch of fabric (approximately 4″ x 4″) in the stitch pattern of the piece you are making.

A pattern will instruct you to use a certain weight of yarn and a specific hook size to achieve a set size for the finished product. Sometimes, the pattern may recommend the user to create a swatch to make sure the correct gauge is achieved, and if not, the user should adjust their hook or yarn until the recommended gauge can be recreated.

Who has time for this???

My approach to achieving the gauge I want is more trial and error and may even cost me more time. Lol. Mostly, if the pattern I am using is for a hat that would be slightly too big for a blythe, I will use a smaller hook, or a smaller hook and slightly thinner yarn, as opposed to adjusting the number of stitches in the pattern. I find this to be more simple than dissecting the pattern and making changes to the stitches and rows. I want to reiterate that this type of adjusting works best on hat patterns that are slightly too big for blythe dolls. I wouldn’t try this on a hat pattern for an adult human, and expect it to fit my blythe doll (at least not without struggling first).

American Girl hat patterns will fit Blythe

I say this with relative certainty, though I believe that the circumference of American Girl doll heads are a bit bigger than Blythe heads. I’ve made several Blythe sized hats for a coworker’s daughter’s American Girl doll, and they fit well. The beauty of crocheted hats is that they have a good deal of stretch to them. When testing an American Girl doll hat pattern to create a Blythe sized hat, I might suggest a slightly smaller hook to achieve a snugger fit.

American Girl dolls are more prolific than Blythe dolls in America, and they have a stronger presence in the media, being very popular with kids and adult collectors. There are many hat patterns out there specifically for AG dolls.

Take advantage of baby hat patterns
The two hats on the right were both made from baby hat patterns. The number of baby hat patterns dwarfs the number of Blythe hat patterns, no contest. Of course, a baby’s head will most likely be considerably bigger than a Blythe’s head, so this is where I suggest being experimental with gauge. To be quite honest, using smaller hooks or thinner yarn isn’t a guarantee that the baby hat pattern will translate well as a Blythe hat. I’ve run into quite a few problems with proportions, because let’s face it, I can’t think of any baby whose head is shaped remotely like a Blythe’s head (wide face, yet very flat head…). However, when the hat comes out to be a success, you have a pattern you can add to your repertoire! And, you’re able to add variety to your Blythe doll wardrobe.
Note that you may have to do some technical adjusting by shortening the hat (maybe cutting out some repeat rows in the middle of the hat). A Blythe’s head is not as long as a baby’s.

Subtopic protip – Preemie hats!

Sometimes baby hat patterns will also offer instructions for several sizes. For preemie baby hat patterns, the pattern will often segregate the sizes by baby weight or by head circumference. Blythe dolls would fall into the 3-4lb baby sizing. This takes a lot of the guess work out of making adjustments.

Make sure to have a volunteer(s)

By this I mean, have one of your girls handy for intermittent fittings while crocheting. I usually place the would-be hat on my doll’s head after every row past the 4th or 5th row. I can generally tell if a hat is going to be too big, and sometimes I try salvaging my efforts by strategically placing some decreases. Also, the frequent modeling can help with determining hat length.

I hope this helps anyone looking to crochet hats for their Blythes. In my opinion, Blythe dolls’ heads are practically made for hats with how oversized they are compared to their bodies. Crocheting for my dolls is a big part of how I enjoy this hobby, and I know how frustrating it is to have limited pattern resources.Happy crocheting ^^.

It’s kind of funny actually. I struggled with naming my Yeolume Podo, mostly because I wasn’t sure what to make of her. For almost a week of having her, i thought her name was pronounced “Yuh-reum/Yuh-leum,” which means “Summer.” It’s actually pronounced “Yul-me” (awful romanization of Korean), which I guess means “fruit” (I think it’s actually a bit broader than just fruit. I think it’s basically anything that is a product of a plant that holds seeds). I ended up naming my Yeolume doll Summer :D.

Annndd I ended up sanding her face off and redrawing it. >_<

It was HARD! I am really not an artist – in elementary school, I really wanted to be a mangaka, but I kind of gave it up when I realized I am awful at drawing. This is kind of how I draw:

I have trouble with symmetry and proportions :(.

Anyway, I struggled with Summer’s face up. It was also drizzling, and I didn’t realize it until I went outside to see if the MSC had dried on Summer’s face plate.

I was also feeling especially ambitious today, so I rebodied her as well!

This part wasn’t as complicated as I thought it would be! I pretty much followed this tutorial, and I purchased the epoxy putty and the screw at my local hardware store for pretty cheap. I put Summer on the Pure Neemo Flexion XS body in white skin, which I purchased from eBay.

I didn’t have saran wrap to kind of cover up the hardened epoxy putty before closing up Summer’s head… hopefully the putty doesn’t react weirdly with the doll’s plastic. The packaging said it was safe to use on most plastics, and I did some research and it looks like people use epoxy putty to mod their dolls regularly. I’m exhausted from frankening Summer that at this point I shall leave it to the dolly gods. (I know, what kind of house doesn’t have saran wrap?)

I also gave Summer some new eye chips! I purchased them from Kirakirameanssparkle’s Etsy store,.and I like them a LOT better than the chips she came with. They’re not a perfect fit – they’re slightly smaller than the sockets, but I don’t think it’s that noticeable. You also really can’t beat the price for such pretty chips. I have two more pairs of eye chips that I’m excited to put in my future dolls.

😀 That’s Summer chilling while I watch some BJD deboxing videos on youtube.

Summer doesn’t have the best face up (the eye fold lines bother me :(), but I really love her new overall look! (/secretly proud because I got so much done and those eye folds aren’t THAT bad…). I think this weekend, I will make Summer a yarn wig!!

Meet another addition to my doll collection – a Yeolume Podo! It took about one full day for me to realize that Yeolume is Korean for “summer.” “Podo” means grape ^^. Yeolume is the future daughter of Pullip (like Chibi-usa to Sailormoon… Right?)

The first time I saw this doll was on Les Jeunette’s blog. She has customized her Yeolume, and I’m considering doing the same but I lack the confidence of doing a better job than her current faceup. I have, however, redressed her! Her shoes totally don’t match, but I was delighted when the Lambellina Ever After High Sweater fit!

My thoughts on this particular doll:

Yeolume’s wig is top notch- it is SUPER soft and very cutely curled at the bottom. I really like her school girl stock as well. Everything but the blazer has Velcro as a closure. Her stock is also very well made (that headband though… Will not stay on her head for anything). Her eyes move left to right like a middie, but instead of a dial, there is a switch. Ummmm… I’m not a big fan of the feel of the doll. Her joints are way too loose so everything swivels far too easily. She also doesn’t give off an expensive feel.